TheTameParrot.com – Let's Try To Solve Your Parrot Problems

Many times we have read articles, or received questions, about whether you can put birds from different species in the same cage. To be honest, I still don’t have a definitive answer for this. But I can certainly pass along my observations as a bird breeder who has raised a wide variety of birds.

Whenever you introduce two birds together in the same cage, regardless of if they are the same breed or not, you need to take a slow approach. The birds need to be introduced and observed, and then you can combine them into the same cage.

When you combine birds, there is more of a domination mentality than just fighting with another breed. But you can introduce birds as babies, and they will learn to get along. However, you would not want to put baby birds in with adult birds.

This is especially true with birds that are injured. The other birds will immediately pick on the bird, and even kill it.

But we have not really seen any evidence that one breed of bird will instinctively attack another. As a matter of fact, we have had cases where birds you would never expect to get along fell in love with each other…preening and feeding each other.

LOVEBIRDS

These birds do not live up to their names. They can be very aggressive to other birds. The males are docile, but females can be very aggressive. They have been known to attack any other birds that enter their cage. It’s even dangerous to put two males or two females together.

And there are many cases where a paired up set of lovebirds will seem to get along great. Then, for no apparent reason, they will be fighting to the death! I still have not figured this out! We have lost a lot of lovebirds over this.

LARGE BIRDS AND SMALL BIRDS

From our experience, you can put birds of various sizes together. But the cage must be big enough for everyone to have their own “space”. And remember, they will each have separate diets, so more bowls will be required. The problem with this arrangement is that you can’t put a very large parrot into a cockatiel cage, because they may be able to bend and break the bars. Small birds will get through the bars of large bird cages. So some common sense needs to be practiced.

>>In my ebook “The Easy Parrot System”, not only do I share the EXACT cage sizes but also how far apart should the bars be (this is important- you don’t want your bird’s head get stuck in between the bars). In some instances, you should also know how strong the bars should be. For example, macaws have a crushing power of 2500 lbs (powerful enough to break off a human finger) so having the right gauge bar is crucial. Bird cages are an important and expensive investment so make sure you educate yourself: The Easy Parrot System – Bird Cages

Our aviary had a pair of breeding Blue/Gold Macaws. They were in a very large 4’x8’ cage so they could have lots of room to exercise. We also had lots of finches and lovebirds. And with any large aviary, you will always have escaped finches. You can either run around with a bird net trying to catch them (and maybe injure them in the process) or just let them be. These finches spent most of their time visiting the Macaws.

MALE CANARIES FIGHT

Canaries are not the best society birds. Two male canaries will fight with each other. Females are not as aggressive and can sometimes be kept together. It’s best that you do not put them with other birds (including another canary). Breeding canaries is an art, and you need to do a lot of research before attempting it. We had some follow breeders that love them a great deal! But in their case, canaries is all they breed and that is all they know. Just be careful pairing them up!

JACK AND BUGGY

Let me tell you the story about Jack and Buggy.

Jack was a Senegal Parrot that we rescued from a home where the owner no longer wanted him. Senegal’s are native to Africa, and are related to the African Grey. The owner actually thought he was a Conure. When we picked him up, he was in a cage in the basement. It was cool, humid, dark and dusty. The cage hadn’t been cleaned in months. We actually threw away the cage immediately. We didn’t want Jack to be constantly reminded of his past.

Mentally, Jack was a mess. He was depressed and very angry, launching at me every time I reached for him. After a few days he would come out of his cage, but would go to the top of his cage and stare at the wall, oblivious to everything around him.

Buggy came to us when we purchased our first stock of birds for our aviary. She came along with about 30 large parrots. “Mrs. Buggy” was a Grey Cheek Parakeet. This bird is native to South America, and they are very rare.

Mrs. Buggy was a healthy bird, very happy and friendly. We put her cage next to Jack’s cage, and Buggy would chatter to Jack. Jack showed no reaction or response, just sat staring at the wall. This went on for many days.

One day Buggy opened her cage door, went into Jacks cage, sat next to him and began chatting again. He finally showed signs of noticing her. Eventually they began preening and feeding each other. When Buggy finally went back to her cage, Jack followed her. From that day on, they were inseparable. Several years later, Mrs. Buggy developed some health problems, diagnosed as liver disease. We adopted the birds to a husband and wife who were both veterinarians and were able to take care of them, and promised to keep them together.

Lesson learned: It’s very possible for completely different species of birds to get along just fine. But it’s up to the birds.

>>Check out my ebook at http://www.TheTameParrot.com/cb/ – I believe every parrot owner should have a copy of this. It would prevent so many mistakes that bird owners unknowingly make (in some instances those mistakes are life threatening to the bird)

Do you have any experience putting two birds in the same cage? Or are you planning to do so in the near future? Please post them below – I’d love to hear your feedback and comments! Thank you!

[tags]sharing bird cage, putting two parrots in a cage, parrot fight, bird fight[/tags]